Runaway
by K.A. Greenwick
Summary: Lauren Cassidy is a runaway with no one to lean on. After being chased down by SHIELD in New York, she's entangled in their mess. But after a few buttons pressed and a couple clicks, she's not only entangled with SHIELD but a few others. Rated T for profanity. I only own my OC.
1. Chapter 1

I ran through the streets at a pace that started to exceed my limit. I was never a very athletic person to begin with and the only reason I was running was because SHIELD has shown up. I was having a good day before a few minutes ago. I had snuck into some person's hotel room, taken some money and bought a lunch and some new clothes. I had even gotten a shower. But then _they _showed up wearing their crisp little suits and leather shoes.

How can they fight in those suits? That's got to be uncomfortable. Right?

They shouted my name through the chaotic New York mass as they raced. Their legs were longer and stronger than mine. I mean, if you took one glance at me, you'd think I was twelve, even though I'm three years older than that. But hey, it's whatever.

"Lauren!" There must have been four-hundred other Laurens on this street, but I knew they were talking to me. It wasn't hard to guess that. I was the only Lauren running for my life and freedom. I stopped when someone caught my eye. It was a homeless girl who sat on the corner and held a sign. But that wasn't what caught my attention; it was the fact that we looked very much alike with the platinum blonde hair and fair skin. The only difference was that she had freckles and empty grey eyes.

So, being the genius I am, I strode over to her, and handed her my jacket and a twenty. She gave me a praise of thanks and walked off in a different direction. I felt horrible considering that I made her a beacon, but hey, it was a good for me.

I watched as the SHIELD agent raced after her. When they reached her, one of them spun her around and examined her face. "Lauren!" he yelled in anger. I couldn't help but let out a laugh. Nothing too loud of course.

With the extra bit of cash I still had left, I entered a vintage store to buy a new jacket. With that, I left again and made my way to some WiFi cafe where I could hook up my laptop. I'd had the thing for years. It was the only thing I took with me when I ran away. With what I could do, I didn't need high tech equipment worth billions of dollars. I just needed a laptop.

"Miss Cassidy," a very serious but light voice from behind me. "That was a very impressive trick you did back there, but it wasn't enough to throw me off." It was one of the men in the group of SHIELD agents. Another one followed behind him. "I'm Agent Coulson and this is Agent Ward. We're here to bring you into SHIELD."

I shut my laptop with a roll of my eyes. "Why would I willingly go with you? You've been nothing but a thorn in my side for years."

He laughed lightly, his eyes squeezing at the sides. "The feelings mutual, Miss Cassidy. But we're in a big hole here and it would be appreciated if we could have your assistance." When I didn't answer, he continued. "It would be a one time deal. You help us out, you go off our grid. Deal?" It did sound pretty tempting to _finally _be off SHIELD's radar. But they would probably pounce on me sometime in the future. But hey, even if it was only a little while...

"I'm in. What do I gotta do?" Agent Coulson and Agent Ward shared a smile, then led me out to the front where a black SUV awaited. As soon as I sat down in the backseat with Agent Ward, my stomach did a gymnastics routine. Something was telling me I had made a fatal mistake. But the car had already started to pull away from the cafe and it was too late to back out now.

* * *

The car ride took me deep inside the warehousing district, where we met up with a jet. Agent Ward and Agent Coulson stood in front and behind me, leading me into the jet to take me somewhere. When I asked where, they responded with silence. _Great_, I thought. _This is my dying day, isn't it?  
_

The jet ride took at least an hour and listening to the engine roaring got quite tiring. Annoyingly enough, Agent Coulson would constantly look over at me and just watch. Every time I looked over to him, his head turned the other way. It drove me insane.

Coulson cleared his throat, then said, "We'll be landing shortly." _Landing where? _We were in the middle of no where in the sky. But then I saw it: a giant airship. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but only because it is. This thing was bigger than a mansion. And did I mention it was flying in the air? Like Coulson said, the jet landed on the runway and I was led inside.

So many people were bustling around with someone to do. And everyone looked straight at me with wide eyes. It felt good to be known amongst SHIELD. I wonder what they were thinking right now. Were they scared? Angry? Jealous? I guess I'll never know.

Agent Ward and Agent Coulson led me into a room filled with computers and people. It was a command center. "Lauren Cassidy," a dark and much deeper voice rang out across the room. "High school dropout but somehow, you can get past any firewall in the world. You have a genius level IQ. Did you know that?"

"Been told that one or two times," I replied nonchalantly. Agent Ward placed me in a chair in front of the man. "Please, do continue."

And he did. "Your parents abandoned you when you were just a small child, correct?" I shrugged. It was true. They did abandon me and it left a gaping hole in my life. Who wanted to know that their parents had dropped them off in an orphanage because they just didn't want you? "You're a very tricky person to find, Miss Cassidy."

"I take pride in that," I grinned devilishly. I still didn't know the guy's name but I didn't have time for that. "Now, if you could please take me where I'm supposed to go and fix whatever problem you have, then that would be swell."

"Very well. If you'll follow me." I did. And he led me down another series of hallways and into a room with a single computer and desk. Nothing else. "This is a computer we retrieved from a very dangerous man, Miss Cassidy. Our finest have had troubles cracking the codes and getting the information we need. I was hoping you could do the honors."

_This is gonna be fun_, I thought. "I'd love to. But I need to be alone to do this. Can't have any distractions," I smiled with my signature grin. It was lopsided and you could see a clear view of my chipped tooth. I don't really remember how I got it, but I remember it hurting like a little bitch.

With that, the SHIELD agents scrambled out behind the man clad in black. I cracked my knuckles and neck, then got to work.

* * *

Not even an hour later, I called them back in to show them how much I had found. It was amazing. And to remember just how amazing it was, I sent _everything_ to my computer. Yeah, yeah. It was illegal and they'd totally hunt me down if they found it. But I did erase any trail of me doing that. So, the chances of them finding out was slim.

The man, who I had learned went by the name Nick Fury, leaned over my shoulder and examined the masterpiece. Whoever this Dulbrov guy was, he was a genius. He had so many idea crammed inside this little computer, I was shocked it didn't explode. It had designs of world-changing machines and ideas that could solve problems with a flick of the wrist. And he had the audacity to make these ideas something real. Dulbrov had information on how to build them and where to find the ingredients. Genius. But there was something that was a little off setting about this guy's plans. He was a combination between crazy and genius.

"So, who was this guy?" I asked out of sheer curiosity, just _hoping _they would tell me.

But my hope was short-lived. "No one you need to know about, Miss Cassidy. Now you've done your job. You're free to go." Fury turned to Coulson, who was no longer accompanied by Agent Ward. "Take her back to the jet and drop her off where you found her." Wow, he was a keeper.

Coulson nodded and led me out the way I'd came in. The jet ride seemed twice as short with all the thoughts running through my head. Who was that guy? Why did SHIELD want the intel so badly? Everything seemed fishy to me. But with my cunningness and brains, I could figure it out. I was going to figure it out.

* * *

Just a few seconds ago, someone new had popped up on SHIELD's radar. Tony Stark had been keeping tabs on SHIELD ever since the Loki deal. He wasn't going to let SHIELD off the hook with the crazy stunts they had pulled.

"Well looky here. Some poor kid got tangled up in SHIELD's mess. What a shame." His voice sounded pitiful, but his curiosity sky rocketed. "Let's find out who it is." With some button pressing and hacking, Tony found himself at a profile page. The girl in the photo had a sort of look in her dark eyes that said she was not to be trifled with.

**Lauren Cosette Cassidy  
****Age: 15  
Birthday: August 4, 1998  
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio  
Parents: Parents and their whereabouts are unknown  
Affiliation with SHIELD: Enemy  
Threat level: High  
Personality evaluation: Cunning, intelligent  
Background: Parents gave up Lauren at birth and were never seen after that. Ran away before her freshmen year of high school yet skill has an unbelievably high IQ. Her years as a foster child moved her around constantly. Her last home was in Owatta Hills in Toledo, Ohio with Felicia and Michael Davon.**

The more Tony read, the more he wanted to find this girl. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to.

And hey, how much trouble could finding a fifteen year old girl be?

* * *

**Wanted to let you guys know that Coulson IS in this story because I set this after a year or something after the Avengers, so they know. Just wanted to clear it up! :) **

**Oh! And I wanted to say that my other story is still in progress, but I just wanted to start this one because I liked the idea. I hope it turns out well!**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since SHIELD last contacted me, but I knew it wouldn't be long until they did. It was inevitable.

And now I was sitting at the same cafe Coulson had caught me at. I was looking through Dulbrov's designs and blueprints. After looking through it for hours, there was no word to describe how beautifully intelligent that man was. He had such big ideas that he wanted to bring into reality. I wanted to meet this man one day, I decided. I wanted to shake his hand and cherish being in his presence. To me, he was like a god.

The window I sat across from gave me a perfect view of Stark Tower. A lot of people sat at this cafe at a chance to see Stark or his suits. But that wasn't going to be true for a while. Not after he destroyed those pretty little suits of his. I, personally, wish he hadn't. How could he destroy something so beautiful and advance? Especially when he was Tony Stark, the innovator of the future.

I leave the cafe, having stayed to the point where the sun started to set. It was never a good idea to go walking around New York these days. Not alone in the dark, anyway. Once out the cafe, I crossed the street to stand in front of Stark Tower. It loomed over me like it was taunting me. I wanted to be in that building so bad. To be near all that amazing tech and computers and just build whatever the hell I wanted.

Behind me, an engine shut off as it pulled up to the curb. When I turned around, what I saw nearly stopped my heart: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts climbing out of a car. And there was some other guy getting out of the driver's seat. Bodyguard maybe?. They looked like they had just come from the airport or something. Maybe they had come from their home in Malibu? Who knows.

I couldn't be sure, but I was pretty sure Tony stark was staring me down. "Hey, you," he called out. I pointed to myself innocently. "Yeah, Lauren Cassidy, right?" _Shit! _I bolted down the street. "Hey! Happy, get that girl!" And I could hear Happy's thudding boots clamber down the sidewalk. Unfortunately, there wasn't a New York crowd to lose him in, so I had to keep running.

But he caught up to me. Happy grabbed my backpack and picked me up with ease. "You don't weigh anymore than a puppy do you?" I didn't answer his annoying comment. He carried me back to Stark and Potts, the amazing duo.

When Happy dropped me down in front of Stark, he said something that shocked me. "You're a hard one to find, Lauren, let me tell you." _Huh? _"I mean, getting your information from SHIELD was no problem. But actually finding you was a whole other story."

"I knew you were a genius, but I didn't know you were crazy." All he did was shoot me a shit-grin smile. I looked around my surroundings, trying to come up with some way to escape. There were none.

Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, rushed up beside me and ushered me inside. "You look like you haven't shower or eaten in days. Why don't you come upstairs and shower and have something to eat?" I nodded and accepted her offer. She was right, I realized. I hadn't shower or eaten in days. But I was used to it by now.

But that didn't matter. Who knew if they were allied with SHIELD. Of course they were. The Avengers is a side division to SHIELD. But Stark did say he stole the info about me from SHIELD. Did that mean they were accomplices?

I let her lead me to the elevators. Only after deducing that Stark and Pepper were okay. "Sorry, if it's a little crowded. Tony had Steve and Bruce move in after the whole Loki problem. Wanted everyone to stay as close as possible," said Pepper, who smiled at me glamorously. I'd met CEO's and stuff, but I'd never met one as charismatic as Pepper. Instead of putting on a false front, she put on a real one.

Wait, did she say Steve and Bruce? Like, as in Captain America and the Hulk? "You said Stark wanted to keep the Avengers close together?" She nodded quickly. "Isn't there a demigod from norse legend who lives in a different dimension? And two super assassins who work for SHIELD. You've only got half of the team here."

"Half is better than nothing, kid," said Stark from the corner of the elevator. It dinged open after he said that. He was the first to step out into an open but cold room that had no personal touch to it. But the decor didn't matter to me for a minute, it was the tech that made me stare. "Like what you see?" I nodded slowly, running up to a screen and tapping it. I looked at it for a minute then turned around and looked at everything else. "In the morning, I can show you the lab. You'll love it."

That snapped me out of my trance and look at him. What made him think I was sticking around for that long? "Yeah, that'll be cool," I muttered. Well, my vibe was completely knocked out of place.

I wasn't staying until morning. I would be gone before any of them woke up.

There were footsteps in the hallway. One sounded heavy and the other sounded light. The heavier one was much bigger than the other. I didn't really want to find out, but there was no place for me to run to. And why would I run? From what Pepper and Tony told me, the only two other people in this place was Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. What did I have to worry about?

I think Pepper could tell I was a little on edge because she came over to me and put a hand around my shoulder. No one had ever done that to me. Why was she doing that? Bruce and Steve came into view from the doorway and Pepper pulled me closer to them. "Bruce, Steve, this is Lauren. She's staying with us for the night. Maybe longer, if necessary?" She looked down to me for input.

"Not necessary," I replied instantly. I didn't want to stay here long. I knew these four were allies with SHIELD. "When can I take that shower and eat?"

Pepper perked up at this. "The bathroom is right down the hall. I'll get everything ready. Just wait here a minute." She rushed off down the hall with that said. _Thanks for leaving me alone, Pepper_, I thought. _Now they're going to ask questions. __  
_

"So-" Here we go. "-Lauren, where do you come from?" It was Steve that asked the question. Personally, I wasn't all for manners and answering questions I didn't want to answer, but I felt like if I didn't I would be stepping on a puppy.

"Ohio," I stated simply.

"Where are your parents?" I shrugged. "You don't know where you own parents are?" Another shrug. "What do you know about them?"

"Uh, they abandoned me? I don't know."

"You don't even know their names?" Bruce asked.

"What is this? Twenty questions?!" That got everyone to shut up.

"So-"

Pepper cut off another questions from Bruce when she yelled, "Lauren! It's ready!"

"Thank God," I mumbled then stomped off. Was this really how a family was? Well, it made me a little happier at the fact of not having one. I mean, I still wanted one. Just a _normal _one. But that wasn't exactly a word you could use on people nowadays was it?

When I got to the door Pepper was standing by, I looked inside to see a luxurious bathroom. I'd seen stuff like this on TV, but I never expected it to be true. "I put some clean clothes in their for you to change into. You're smaller than me so it might be really big on you," she laughed delicately. Why couldn't I laugh as beautifully as she did? "When you're done in the shower, I'll take your clothes and put them in the wash for you. They'll be all clean by tomorrow morning."

"Thanks," I replied in a small voice. Why were these people doing all this? Did they have an ulterior motive behind it? Did they want something from me? Or was this all from the kindness of their hearts?

* * *

Tony and Pepper and the other two Avengers sat in silence for a good seven minutes. All of them were still thinking about Lauren and how out of norm she seemed to be. From Tony's guess, Lauren was used to people pushing her off to the side and not paying her any attention. And that made him wonder if all this hacking and running was for attention.

"What's Lauren's background? I mean, you must know, right?" asked Steve from the opposite side of the room. He had been standing by the window and watching out at the city. It had been a year yet he still wasn't used to present day.

"JARVIS. Pull up Lauren Cassidy's SHIELD profile." JARVIS did so in a matter of seconds. Her profile page was still the same from the last time Tony checked it, which was about a week ago.

Tony waited as the group scanned their eyes over the screen. There eyes were saddened by the information.

"No wonder she seemed...lonely," Pepper said.

Her observation made Tony's curiosity peak. "What are you saying, Miss Potts?" he asked, snaking closer.

"Well, when I looked at Lauren, she seemed so empty and lonely. And now I can see why. All she needed was a family," she said softly.

"Excuse you," a voice interrupted. "I don't _need _anyone. People let you down." After pausing for a moment, Lauren said, "And I left my clothes outside the bathroom door." With that, she walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**I wanted to start this chapter off with a VERY big thank you to Serafina for being the first reviewer on this story! Thank you for the wonderful inspiration and comment! I appreciate it so much!**

* * *

I hated them. I hated SHIELD and Stark and the whole lot of them. If they would've let me be I wouldn't have been in this situation. It's all Tony Stark's fault. He thinks he as to know everything and then when he finds what he wants, he digs his heels into it and clings on for dear life.

I've been sitting in this dark room for hours now. I don't know why they made me sit in this room with nothing but a bed, toilet, sink and mirror. It smelled stuffy; like it hadn't been used in years. Maybe it hadn't. But now I was just lying to myself. SHIELD brought in prisoners all the time. It wasn't anything new.

I stood up and walked around, trying to ease the pain of the boredom. I stopped in front of the mirror when I finally saw myself; I looked like a ghost. My skin was a clear, porcelain color and the darkness of my eyes made my skin seem even more pale. My light blonde hair was in knots from not brushing my hair after I showered. But at least I was clean.

And when I least expected it, the door to the room opened and in stepped Agent Ward. I really hated being in his presence; he was always gloomy or something. He rarely had a smile on his face.

He didn't have to say a word for me to know that I was to follow him somewhere. He gave me a disappointed look and held the door open for me. When I stepped out into the hallway, there were four other agents waiting in a formation to guard me. One put a set of handcuffs on my wrists. What did they think I was going to do? Destroy everything with fire? I could barely do a cartwheel.

People parted ways as the wall of SHIELD agents directed me to...wherever I was going. No one would answer my questions. It was as if I was irrelevant and didn't matter. Which wasn't at all true. That's what I told myself, at least. Maybe I was as irrelevant as they treated me? There has to be hundreds of people like me with an immense knowledge of things and the ability to hack into any computer and destroy any firewall. Right?

Agent Ward led me to the bridge, where people were still bustling around like chickens with their heads cut off. There was a table with very familiar people sitting around it. The familiar people were the Avengers.

"Miss Cassidy," said Nick Fury, who stood in front of the table between two computers. "Please, take a seat." I did so. "You do realize stealing information from SHIELD is illegal and stupid, right? You didn't think we wouldn't have found you?"

I shrugged. "Just kind of hoping you wouldn't have."

Nick didn't seem to find this funny. In fact, no one did. He turned around from the computers and stalked up next to me. "I want you to explain to me why you stole that information? What compelled you to steal that information?"

"The idea of knowledge, Director. I didn't plan to sell the intel. And why would I? Who would pay big bucks for information that a fifteen-year-old girl got? If you didn't know me at all and you took one look at me, what would you think of me? 'Cause it sure as hell isn't intelligent. I look like some runaway kid, not a computer genius." His silence said it all. "Exactly my point." I sat back in my seat with a smirk.

The table was silent. People were probably still thinking because they knew I was right. Who would buy information from an unreliable source? No one smart. "You've got a point there, Miss Cassidy. But my mind has been made up," he said as he turned away from the table and went back to his computers. I wasn't looking forward to what he had concocted because knowing Fury, it's something bad. "Romanoff, Barton, prepare the jets for a transport. Little Miss Hacker of the Year over there is being sent to one of SHIELD's many detention centers."

I jumped from my seat at his unexpected, yet still totally expected, idea. "Detention center! Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone. What do you expect me to do in there? Talk about my feelings?"

It shocked me when Tony stood up and stood by me. "I agree with the girl, Fury. She's a genius; almost as much of one as myself, dare I say, and putting her in a detention center would be a waste of brains. What if, and I'm just tossing this idea around," he said, rolling his hands around, "Lauren stayed at the tower and we put her brains to use. She'd be watched and not causing trouble. Brilliant, right?" He looked around with a look of pride on his face.

Fury stood there with an expression that said _I-don't-give-two-shits_, but in nanoseconds, that expression changed to something more...questioning. "Why are you sticking up for her, Stark? She beat the shit out of you all. She could be deceiving you. Lauren could know that you'd stick up for her, bring her in, then she would steal your blueprints of things that be potentially harmful, yet you trust her. Why?"

"Because I just do," he said bluntly. "Does there have to be a reason? Don't you ever just have this feeling in your gut and you just go with it? Because I do that all the time."

Fury stood there and stared at Stark for a minute. Then his eyes flickered to me. He seemed to be deep in thought. He was probably thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But to be honest, I wasn't planning on doing anything bad because if I did, he would send me straight to that detention center without a second thought.

"She can stay," said Fury. I leaned back in my chair with a grin plastered on my face. _I can stay. _"But if she stays, she's being put to good use. She'll help track Dulbrov and she'll work with the team." He turned to me and stared me straight in the eyes, which wasn't the most relaxing thing, and said, "You fall out of line _once, _I'll send you to that detention center quicker than you can snap your fingers. Are we clear?" I nodded eagerly. "Lovely."

With some uptight looking chick following him, Nick Fury left the bridge with a flourish of his coat. I let out a sigh of relief as another agent unlocked the handcuffs and walked away. But the relief soon washed away when I saw the look Tony Stark was giving me. It wasn't a happy one.

I stood up and walked over to him. I patted him on the shoulder with a half-smile. "Hey, uh, thanks for sticking up for me. No one's ever done that before so that was pretty cool of you."

His hardened expression didn't change. "Just don't screw it up, kid," he muttered as he brushed by me. I almost laughed because I knew I would screw this up bad. I always messed up everything. It was like my Midos touch; if I touched something, it would break apart and just fail all together. Maybe that's why I never got to have a family. Maybe it was because I ruined it.

God, I hope I don't ruin this.

* * *

**Tony's POV**

Tony looked over to the other seat where Lauren sat quietly and just watched out the window. She worried him, to be honest. She was fifteen-years-old and already in deep trouble with SHIELD. For him, that was a record set by her; youngest kid to ever get in trouble with SHIELD. If it was ever broken. Tony would want to meet that kid.

But that wasn't the only thing that struck him straight in the heart. The thing that really got him was when she said that no one had ever stuck up for her before. It made him wonder what life was like for her back in the system. Was it really that bad that no one had ever stuck up for her? Was she bullied often? He wouldn't know without asking. But now wasn't the time for that.

He could tell that Steve and Bruce were also deep in thought, but what about? Was it about Lauren? Or that Dulbrov character?

No one said a word to each other the way back. And Tony had never been a big fan of silence; it made him antsy. But there wasn't anything to talk about right now.


End file.
